


While the Lion Sleeps

by IvoryCrow



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Related, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Post S3 to S6, Sentient Voltron Lions, Shiro and Black chill in space, The Black Lion is Co-President of the Shiro Fan Club, pre-sheith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 18:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18697111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvoryCrow/pseuds/IvoryCrow
Summary: “I don’t know.” Shiro says, breathless. “I died —”“You are not dead!” The Black Lion cuts him off with a snarl, baring her teeth like an angered god. “You are my paladin. I would never let anything happen to you. You are safe with me, Shiro.” Her voice cracks, “I kept you safe, didn’t I?”





	While the Lion Sleeps

[ x ]

 

The first time the Black Lion speaks to him, she asks, “What pains you, Shiro?” Her voice envelopes him with warmth. The vast nothingness of her space shifts her into image. She’s less machine here, yellow eyes more lion.

He sits in the pilot chair he hasn’t left and yet, pools of galaxies swirl his fingertips and light flows under his feet. “I can’t.”

Zarkon is gone but so are his paladins. At the thought of Zarkon, he chokes on his spit. He wrestles to get out of his helmet and throws it down. He can’t breathe and the skies tremble. She watches him. “What do you want me to say? I don’t know, I’m dead —”

“You are not dead!” The Black Lion cuts him off with a snarl, baring her teeth like an angered god. “You are my paladin. I would never let anything happen to you. You are safe with me, Shiro.” Her voice cracks, “I kept you safe, didn’t I?”

She is a fusion of metal and stars and something else. But she is not mortal, for Black — there is only time. She grasps at his memories and tugs, unraveling feelings and words. He can feel her confusion and a new sense of rawness between them. The Black Lion does not know what death is — in her eyes, she saved him.

But not completely.

“I know you did.” Shiro sighs, standing, and steps forward. The pilot seat falls away behind him as he presses his hand up against her muzzle. It’s a comfort for both of them. “But I died, Black. I _died_.”

He offers her memories of pain and loss. Some are clearer, more familiar, and others are less personal. Then he offers her the memory of the battle, of his death. Shiro mourns and the Black Lion follows suit.

“I’m sorry, Kitten. I’m so sorry.” Black says. She keeps apologizing after that.

 

[ x ]

 

When the other Paladins approach her, she knows who she will pick. The Red Lion says nothing when she reaches out her. Her paladin was grieving and it was too much, if he does not settle - Keith will lose himself. Shiro has also always known who he wants to take his place. So, Black gives in.

After that, Keith becomes the Black Paladin. Shiro feels everything from pride to sadness flood him. The Black Lion does not understand.

“I’m here and they’re not.” He tries to explain once. “I wanted Keith to take over if something happened to me. It’s just… I thought I had more time.”

She does her best to follow as she hangs onto his every word. It doesn’t help her really so the purple haze focuses instead. Clear enough for Shiro to see a phantom image of Keith at her console. Black purrs at his ear, “You _are_ with them.”

He is. Only, it’s in the same sense as the Lions are always with their paladins, and the Black Lion is always with each of them. She is their leader, their wings. Then — Black reaches far and he reaches with her.

Pidge is barely awake but she’s pushing herself to the brink of exhaustion and the scripts of code do not stop. Hunk tries to hide his hands tremble when she offers him her tablet. Allura combs the galaxies at her own console with her own heavy heart. Lance sighs, deep and heavy, and restarts the Castle combat druids. Keith just doesn’t stop flying.

Black pulls away from the Paladins. The streams between them and their ties fade as she settles around Keith. He sits, too.

“He looks for you too.” She whispers. “I still do not understand. You are already here.”

Shiro laughs and if Black had a heart, it may have broken at the sound.

 

[ x ]

 

Being one with both Shiro and Keith brings a confusing range of emotions. Sadness, pride, loss, sparks of happiness, home. Sometimes it’s a little bit of everything between them.

They both grieve and Black grieves with them.

 

[ x ]

 

He dreams a lot. The ones about home are easier to deal with. About Matt, Adam, Keith. The ones about the Arena has him shaking every time. Keith makes an appearance in too many to be coincidence and he blames Black for that.

“It’s the best I can provide you.” She whispers. As if seeing Keith would heal the bile rising in his throat when he watches another prisoner fall. He doesn’t blame her. She only has Keith and himself as reference points.

“I didn’t want to die. Not then.” He shakes his head to rid the phantom hands holding him down. “Not now.”

“You would have. For any of them.”

He throws his hands up with a sigh, “No one else was doing anything. They were innocent. I could do it, I could fight. So, I did.” He bubbles over, “I didn’t want to die. But I would have anyways. I don’t - I don’t regret it either. Especially not for the Paladins. They’re my family.”

“Yes,” She agrees.

Black stops pressing images into his dreams after that. Instead, he’s surrounded by her warmth and she chases the shadows for him. The dreams are a little more bearable after that.

 

[ x ]

 

“What is ‘love’?”

Shiro knew she would ask.

Keith has become one with her now, still a little out of synchronization at least they function together. He has learned to rely on her and relax his mind against her. Where Red is brash and raw emotion, Black is calm and gentle. She is patient with him in a way that Keith does not notice. She learns from Shiro how to press the right feelings with him.  

But Keith is also a flood of emotion that ranges from rage to excitement, each aching in different ways. He loves with his whole heart.

“It’s… I’m not the best to explain.” Shiro sighs, “I’m not really good with those feelings either.”

Black hums, feeling through his memories. His family, Matt and the Holts, Adam. Keith and the paladins. She looks through them quietly and he has always given her free rein. She pulls away, slowly.

“Keith is very similar.” She says. “He loves the same.”

Shiro grins, “Is he working you too hard?”

“We are sentient but we do not feel as you do.” Black rises, like the sun, and gives him a look. She purrs deep in her throat as she settles closer to him. “Emotions are difficult to understand. We only feel what you feel. The Yellow paladin is the heart of this team. Green has claimed a mind too brilliant for their own sake. Blue is our body, strong and dependable. And as Keith was, as the new Red Paladin is, the soul of Voltron.”

She rumbles and Shiro can feel Keith through her. He’s readying for a fight and he’s just so tired. Black turns to him again, “We, on the other hand, are whatever the team needs. Whatever they lack, whatever will keep them together, we become. That is why they consider the Black Paladin to be the leader. It is our sacrifice.”

“What would you choose to be, if you had a choice?” He wonders. Keith calls for her and she fades against the curtains of stars, leaving Shiro to his thoughts.

“I already am what I ‘want’ to be.”

 

[ x ]

 

There is man that looks like Shiro and it confuses her. She can feel Shiro and he does not know who the man is either. He’s more like a trapped collection of memories of her Shiro. Black does not trust easily.

She only lets the clone pilot when Shiro begs her. They need a paladin and Keith wants to go with the Blade of Marmora. Shiro had watched the trials through him, just as Black did. It made sense because the stars have always called Keith, just as they had called Shiro, and he deserves to explore that part of himself. Even she can’t stop him from leaving if he wishes.

The fake Shiro isn’t too far from her Shiro. He’s all wrong and right and she can’t _feel_ him. But the Black Lion is weak to her paladins. She can’t help but be soft on them. Keith asks for nothing but Shiro and Shiro only wishes for something more. She can give them this.

 

[ x ]  

 

“One day, you will leave me.” She tells him.

Shiro watches her, “How?” _How do I escape? How do I die? How do I live? How could I leave you?_ He loves her. She has always been more than he deserves. Zarkon called him a monster and this is what he deserves, he thinks sometimes.

“There is more for you outside of me. It was not your time to go.” Black purrs, “You are no monster, Shiro. You just do not belong _here_.”

“Like Zarkon?”

“Zarkon,” Her mouth contorts into a sneer as she paces around him, “was a fool who let himself be blindsided. He does not deserve my power. Once I felt the change, he was no longer mine.”

“I’m glad you have Keith than.” Shiro smiles sadly. “You deserve a great pilot.”

“Keith Kogane may be mine now but do not forget that the Red Lion chose him first. He’s fierce and tempered with fire, as she is. Your connection to him runs deep, _deeper than the others_. Without you, he would not be my paladin.”

“He would have been enough.” He replies cooly.

She presses her muzzle against his shoulder. “He would not have been mine.” She says again. “I chose you. Keith grew into the armor because of you. You are mine, Shiro, and I am yours.”

 

[ x ]

 

She loves Keith. There is no denying it. It’s a combination of Shiro’s affection for him, his connection to the Red Lion, and because its Keith. Shiro knows she cares for him too, as she warms to the touch whenever Keith boards.The clone is different but Keith is something she knows inside and out.

She already had a glimpse of Keith through Shiro’s eyes. Seeing through Keith’s eyes gives her a different rush. Shiro laughs when she tells him these things and it’s a sound she misses.

“Keith is… incredible.” Shiro smiles.

Black can say nothing to that. She doesn’t tell him that her affections are a reflection of his when he already knows. There is only a piece of her that she does not share it with Shiro. He holds all of her and everything Keith offers when they bond together, except this small piece.

She keeps it tucked away, split between Keith and herself. Because while Shiro is willing to die for this war, Keith is willing to die for him.

For that, the Black Lion is thankful.

 

[ x ]

 

She watches as her Black Paladins fall. Shiro watches beside her, caught in awe and terror.

Keith does not let go.

 

[ x ]

 

“The Blue Paladin is powerful.” Black whispers. “She has moved you to a body. Not… yours. But yours, nonetheless. Shiro, we need to untangle now.”

“I don’t know how!” He clenches at his head. It aches as if it's being split in two. 

_Shiro!_

“My paladin needs you,” She says instead and turns to him. “He’s hurting. I can’t keep you anymore.”

“I wanted to be your pilot.” Shiro cries out, clenching at his chest now. When he looks down at his reflection against the ocean below his feet, the Black Lion stares back at him. She looks proud. 

“Shiro, you will always be a Black Paladin.” Black purrs, “You will always be welcomed home.”

“You’ll protect them?” 

“We already have. Many times. It’s time for you to return to him. He's calling you.”

“Will you stay with me, too?” He asks.

She laughs, not unkindly. “You have never been alone. My paladin, my _champion_.”

He reaches out towards her. The image twists and they stand beside one another, as they always have. “What do I do now?”

“There is greatness in you, Takashi Shirogane. You were always meant to reach the stars.” The Black Lion smiles, eyes glittering with knowledge far beyond his reach. “Keith would not mind sharing once in a while either. Not with you. ”  

He laughs, teary eyed and half-caught in a sob. “I'll miss you.”

_Shiro, Please!_

“I will keep you both safe,” She shimmers and flickers. “As many times as it’ll take.”

_You can’t do this to me, again!_

Shiro opens his eyes.

 

[x]

**Author's Note:**

> Just picture that “Shiro Loves you, baby” drawing. But it’s the Black Lion. At Shiro. I don’t make the rules. 
> 
> I love Black Paladin Shiro a lot. He just wanted to be a paladin guys :( Even though Atlas is really cool too...
> 
> Anyways, now I need a Shiro Club fanfic where all the paladins meet up in the Black Lion for weekly meetings about Shiro.


End file.
